SC 210—Social Research Methods
Spring 2014
Sarah Babb (professor)
McGuinn 426
2-2930
babbsa@bc.edu
Office Hours: M W 12-1:30 or by appt.
Teaching Assistant: TBA
McGuinn 410
Office Hours: TBA
Every day, important decisions are made on the basis of social research. Citizens vote,
governments make policy, corporations invest, advertisers design campaigns, parents choose
schools for their children—all based on claims about social reality, some of which are better
founded than others. This course is designed to give you a sense of the different ways that social
researchers (particularly sociologists), find out about society, some hands-on experience with
doing social research, and some tools for thinking critically about competing claims about social
reality.
Readings
Required:
Khan, Shamus Rahman. 2012. Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s
School. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
A series of online articles available through O’Neill online course reserves,
https://library.bc.edu/F/?func=file&local_base=U-BCL30_CURRENT&file_name=login
or through the Blackboard Vista website.
Recommended:
Adler, Emily Steir and Roger Clark. 2011. An Invitation to Social Research: How It’s
Done. Fourth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Both books are available for purchase at the BC bookstore and are also on 2-hour reserve at
O’Neill Library.
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Grading
In-class pop quizzes and attendance (13 @ 1
point each, out of 15; the two lowest grades
get dropped):
Participation in discussion sections:
Homework assignments (9 @ 3 points each
out of 10; the lowest grade gets dropped):
Literature Review Assignment #1
Literature Review Assignment #2
Final exam:
Total:
% of Final Grade
13%
10%
27%
10%
15%
25%
100%
This course requires a relatively modest amount of reading. However, I expect you (1) to
complete the required readings by the day they are listed on the syllabus; and (2) attend both
lectures and discussion sections. 10 percent of your final grade is based on participation in
discussion sections. Another 13 percent is based on a randomly-spaced series of pop quizzes and
attendance checks, worth one point each. There will be 15 quizzes or attendance checks over the
course of the semester, and your two lowest grades will be dropped. Attendance checks will be
conducted at the end of lectures. Pop quizzes, which will cover required readings listed on the
syllabus for the lecture in question, will be held at the beginning of lectures to ensure that you
come to class having completed the readings (and that you come on time). There are no makeups
for missed pop quizzes: if you miss class the day of a quiz, or if you arrive too late to take it, you
will receive a “zero” for that quiz, and that “zero” will be one of your lowest grades that gets
dropped. I will make no exceptions to this rule.
This course is designed to give you “hands-on” experience with how social science researchers
do their work. Therefore, 27% of your grade will be based on a series of 3-point homework
assignments given over the course of the semester. There will be 10 such assignments over the
course of the semester and your lowest grade will get dropped. Homework assignments should
be posted to the Blackboard Vista course website by 8 a.m. the day they are due. Late
homework assignments will be penalized ½ point for being posted after 8 a.m., and ½ point per
day thereafter. I will make no exceptions to this rule.
There are also two more extensive class assignments worth 10 and 15 percent of your grade,
respectively. These assignments are designed to give you experience with building a scholarly
literature review about a topic that interests you, and the second assignment builds on the first.
As with the homeworks, these assigments will be penalized ½ point for being posted after 8 a.m.
on the day they are due, and ½ point per day thereafter.
The final exam is cumulative, and will cover only material that was covered in class lectures: you
will not be tested on material from readings that was not covered in lecture. An alternative final
exam day and time may be scheduled if there are students who need to take the exam on a
different day and time.
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And finally—a note on discussion sections: you need to be registered for a discussion session to
be in this class and get a grade for it. You also need to attend the discussion section for which
you are registered unless you have special permission from me.
Academic Honesty
Students are expected to comply with the standards for academic integrity outlined in the Boston
College Student Guide (http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/polisci/integrity.html). Cheating on
quizzes or exams will result in a grade of “0” for the test in question. Plagiarized assignments
will also receive a grade of “0.” If I suspect either cheating or plagiarism, I am required to
contact your academic dean.
Documented Disabilities
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this
course, please contact at the Connors Family Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and
ADHD, or the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities, including
temporary disabilities. Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for
accommodations.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
I. Introduction
Monday, January 13—Introduction.
Wednesday, January 15
Required Reading: Pigliucci, “Science and Politics” (online).
Thursday, January 16 and Friday, January 17—Discussion sections.
Monday, January 20--***NO CLASSES, MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY***
Wednesday, January 22—Homework #1 due by 8 a.m.
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Ch. 1.
Thursday, January 23 and Friday, January 24—Discussion sections
Monday, January 27
Required readings: Bryant, “Changes in Attitudes toward Gender Roles” and Boyle et al,
“Gender at Play” (both available on the course website).
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Ch. 2.
II. Designing Research
Wednesday, January 29-- Homework #2 due by 8 a.m.
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Thursday, January 30 and Friday, January 31—Discussion sections. .
Monday, February 3
Required readings: Sieber, “Laud Humphreys and the Tearoom Sex Study” and Babbie, “Laud
Humphreys and Research Ethics.”
Wednesday, February 5—Homework #3 due by 8 a.m.
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Ch 3.
Thursday, February 6 and Friday, February 7: Discussion sections.
Monday, February 10
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Ch. 4.
Wednesday, February 12
Required reading: Landry and Marsh, “The Evolution of the Black Middle Class.”
Thursday, February 13 and Friday, February 14—Discussion sections.
III. Surveys, Measurement, and Sampling
Monday, February 17
Required reading: CQ Researcher, “Census Controversy.” Recommended reading: Adler and
Clark, Chapter 5.
Wednesday, February 19— Homework #4 due by 8 a.m.
Required reading: Bagley and Tremblay, “Kinsey Corroborated”
Thursday, February 20 and Friday, February 21—Discussion sections.
Monday, February 24
Required reading: Martin, “Normalizing Heterosexuality.”
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Chapter 6.
Wednesday, February 26—Literature review Assignment #1 due by 8 a.m.
Thursday, February 27 and Friday, February 28—Discussion sections.
***SPRING BREAK***
Monday, March 10
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Chapter 9.
Wednesday, March 12
Required reading: Gauchat, “Politicization of Science.”
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Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, pp. 159-78.
Thursday, March 13 and Friday, March 14—Discussion sections.
IV. Experimental Research
Monday, March 17
Required reading: Bushman and Anderson, “Comfortably Numb.”
Recommended reading, Adler and Clark, Ch 8.
Wednesday, March 19: Homework #5 due by 8 a.m.
Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21—Discussion Sections.
V. Quantitative Data Analysis and Presentation
Monday, March 24
Required Reading: Warren et al., “Driving while Black.”
Recommended Reading: Adler and Clark, pp. 412-41 and pp. 327-45.
Wednesday, March 26— Literature Review Assignment #2 due by 8 a.m.
Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28: Discussion sections.
VI. Qualitative Interviews, Observation, and Analysis
Monday, March 31—Homework #6 due by 8 a.m.
Wednesday, April 2
Required reading: Khan, Privilege: pp. 1-40; pp. 201-205.
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Chapter 10.
Thursday, April 3 and Friday, April 4: Discussion sections.
Monday, April 7-- Homework #7 due by 8 a.m.
Wednesday, April 9
Required reading: Khan, pp. 41-113.
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, Chapter 11.
Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11—Discussion sections.
Monday, April 14-- Homework #8 due by 8 a.m.
Required reading: Khan, pp. 114-199.
VII. Using Existing Qualitative Data and Doing Content Analysis
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Wednesday, April 16-- Required Reading: Clawson, “Cowboys and Schoolteachers.”
Recommended reading: Adler and Clark, pp. 345-48; Chapter 13.
***EASTER BREAK***
Wednesday, April 23--Homework #9, due 8 a.m.
Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25—Discussion sections.
VIII. Comparative and Historical Analysis
Monday, April 28—No homework, no reading
Wednesday, April 30— In-class review session. Come prepared to ask questions! Homework
#10 due by 8 a.m.
Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2—Discussion sections.
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ONLINE ARTICLES:
Babbie, Earl. 2004. “Laud Humphreys and Research Ethics.” International Journal of Sociology
and Social Policy 24(3/4/5).
Bagley, Christopher and Pierre Tremblay. 2000. “Kinsey Corroborated.” The Gay and Lesbian
Review 7(2).
Boyle, D. Ellen, Nancy L. Marshall and Wendy W. Robeson. 2003. “Gender at Play: FourthGrade Girls and Boys on the Playground.” American Behavioral Scientist 46; 1326.
Bryant, Alyssa N. 2003. “Changes in Attitudes toward Gender Roles: Predicting Gender-Role
Traditionalism among College Students.” Sex Roles 48(3/4).
Bushman and Anderson. 2009. “Comfortably Numb: Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on
Helping Others.” Psychological Science 20 (3).
Clawson, Laura. 2005. “Cowboys and Schoolteachers: Gender in Romance Novels, Secular and
Christian.” Sociological Perspectives 48(4): 461-79.
Congressional Quarterly Researcher. “Census Controversy.” 2010. CQ Researcher 20(19).
Gauchat, Gordon. 2012. “Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere: A Study of Public Trust
in the United States, 1974 to 2010.” American Sociological Review 77(2): 167-87.
Landry, Bart and Kris Marsh. 2011. “The Evolution of the New Black Middle Class.” Annual
Review of Sociology 37: 373-94.
Martin, Karin. 2009, “Normalizing Heterosexuality: Mothers’ Assumptions, Talk, and Strategies
with Young Children.” American Sociological Review 74: 190-207.
Pigliucci, Massimo. 2010. “Science and Politics: The Case of Global Warming.” Pp. 134-59 in
Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Sieber, Joan. “Laud Humphreys and the Tearoom Sex Study.”
http://web.missouri.edu/~bondesonw/Laud.html.
Warren, Patricia, Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, William Smith, Matthew Zingraff, and Marcinda
Mason. 2006. “Driving while Black: Bias Processes and Racial Disparity in Policy Stops.”
Criminology 44(3): 709-38.
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